


Time

by FrsdGirl



Series: I Thought Romance Was a Foregone Conclusion... [1]
Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Developing Relationship, One Shot, Phinabella - Freeform, maybe a little angst but I love them too much so, soft fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:40:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26510770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrsdGirl/pseuds/FrsdGirl
Summary: Fluffy one-shot of Phineas and Isabella in their high school days. Isabella really is trying to get over him but it’s hard when, more recently, he just always seems to be... well, there. There being her chimney, at the moment.
Relationships: Phineas Flynn/Isabella Garcia-Shapiro
Series: I Thought Romance Was a Foregone Conclusion... [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931140
Comments: 14
Kudos: 54





	Time

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends! I am super new to this as a writer but super old to this as a reader. Gonna try to make this an ongoing set of one-shot Phinabella fluff! 
> 
> Ps. Hey Ferb, I know what we’re gonna do today! Remind everyone that I don’t own Phineas and Ferb and all the rights go to the creators! Oh, there you are Dwampy.

Phineas was standing in her chimney. Yes, her chimney. She could only see his lower half as he gave her a long narrative that started with combustion techniques of eighteenth century France, traveled through a variety of topics and had now inexplicably landed on Santa Claus. Well, maybe explicably, given the chimney thing. It was cute really, especially since all the words came out really muffled from the mask he was wearing.  
“I want to bring that much joy to people, you know? And his sleigh, he let me look at the blueprints and that’s, it’s awesome, I still haven’t been able to completely recreate it.”  
Isabella smiled as he leaned down, soot covering his red hair.  
“I don’t think you can pick up some of those magical elements at the hardware store.” Isabella answered.  
He laughed, nodding in agreement, and then launched into his and Ferb’s big ideas for winter break.  
“And even while you’re ice skating we’ll have waiters coming around and giving out hot chocolate. I wanted to put in an ice track with ramps and loops but Ferb said we should keep it family friendly and some parents may not be okay sending their kids into an ice pit of doom.”  
He chuckled at himself, having grabbed whatever tool he needed and taking his place back in the fireplace.  
He picked up where he had left off, jumping from topic to topic. Isabella listened while planning out her week, throwing out the occasionally response.  
“Done!” He called out, leaning down.  
Isabella threw a towel in his direction and he easily caught it.  
They were in high school now and something about growing up had settled both their personalities. She felt more like herself, still sweet and vulnerable but fierce and, well, calm. That same calmness had made its way to Phineas and at first it had worried her a bit, that he may lose that energy she loved so much. But he didn’t. He still talked on and on and was oblivious and endlessly positive, but for the first time he did everything like they had time. He was calm.  
Phineas was examining his palms, still completely dirty despite his best efforts, and suddenly he looked up at her sheepishly.  
“Uh, Isabella, I should probably go home and change.”  
Something tugged at her, she didn’t want him to go, but she knew it wasn’t really an option. Her mother would most definitely notice if the white dining rooms chairs started looking like Rorschach ink blot cards.  
Though she had given up on Phineas in a romantic sense, he was still so there. Pinning had gotten to the point past pathetic, so she told everyone she was done. They knew and she knew that it really just meant she wouldn’t be indulging her crush the way she used to. But, honestly, she was really scared of what would happen to their relationship if she stopped trying so hard to make something happen. She was worried he was so oblivious he might forget her altogether. But it seemed something shifted for him in high school too. Even when she made a point of putting distance between them, she’d turn around and realize he was right there. He had this way of always being there.  
He came to all her soccer games, holding big signs with Ferb, Baljeet and Buford. When he heard the boy’s team got first pick of practice times for the field, he built them a biosphere. A whole biosphere, like the one they had as kids. He figured it was a better way to emulate weather conditions and then the team could ignore the odd rainy day in Danville. Coach Rumba cried when she saw it, she was so thrilled. Actually keeping the enormous metal structure was a bit harder, given the city’s zoning laws, but Ferb told her he had apparently made some phone calls to his fellow council members and smoothed things over.  
And then last year, when she mentioned being bored in class and wanting to be anywhere else, he showed up the next day with glasses you could put on and see live video feeds to places around the world. She stared at the Eiffel Tower lawn while listening to calculus, counting the clouds passing by.  
But honestly, who wouldn’t expect Phineas to go big? What was weird, really really weird, was that he started doing small stuff too.  
Like last year, when instead of inventing a moving gyroscope to take them to school, he suggested they walk. Just walk. She had looked at Ferb, wondering if Phineas was sick or something, but he just shrugged. A couple weeks in, Isabella finally asked Phineas what was up and his simple reply was, “I get to talk to you more if we’re walking.”  
Yeah, the getting over him and moving on thing didn’t succeed too much on that day.  
And now, in the fall of their junior year, they still walked. Occasionally she’d come out one morning and fusion powered flying chairs with cloaking abilities, and of course, cup holders, would be waiting for her. But more often than not they walked home and back and Phineas would ask if she wanted to come over.  
She always said yes in those early years, she was getting over him but wasn’t exactly that over him, but recently she had wanted to spend more time at home. Baljeet was already off at college and had been for awhile and he confided in her that he felt like he missed some stuff by doing that. Especially time with his family. It just struck her a bit and she was trying to spend more time in these last two year in her childhood home, instead of across the road in someone else’s backyard.  
Maybe a small part of her wanted to protect herself. Make the separation come in phases. But that didn’t really work when Phineas would then ask if he could come over, quickly looking over at Ferb too so he wouldn’t just leave his brother like that. When Ferb would give a slight nod, and look at her so knowingly, what could she do? It was like the more she let go, the more he held on. And she was really thankful for it, even as it confused her.  
So that’s how now, deep into November, they seemed to split time between the houses, sometimes with Ferb and often without. Nothing romantic ever happened, beyond a brush here and there and the same amount of hand holding they usually had when bursting into song. But he was here, covered in soot, smiling at her like they had all the time in the world.  
But right now, she probably needed to focus on answering him rather than recounting their entire history.  
“Yeah,” Isabella finally said, “you should probably get washed up.”  
He left and all those promises to herself of spending more time at home became harder when faced with an empty house. Her mom was working and wouldn’t be back until late and Isabella wondered if she should have asked to come over. She cleaned up a bit, planned the next student body meeting, prepared her speech for the Fireside Alumni Convention next week and then gave up.  
This was ridiculous. They were friends. She was allowed to text her friend asking to come over. She was getting over him in a romantic way but she didn’t want to push him away as a friend.  
As she grabbed her phone the front door opened, and Phineas stood there balancing two plates of food in one hand and closing the door with the other.  
“Phineas?” She asked, as if it could be anyone else standing in front of her.  
“Okay, I know you said to keep it simple, but what if while you were giving your speech, we could put up holographic images of the patches behind you? Maybe even moving ones, showing you and the Fireside Girls receiving them. That’s pretty simple and would include fewer llamas than the original plan.”  
“You brought dinner?” She asked, still a bit stunned to deal with his proposed lack of llamas.  
“Oh yeah, mom insisted. She said she made enough for you anyways since she knew your mom would be out.” Phineas grinned at her, still precariously holding the plates.  
“I’m sorry, I should have come over then, I didn’t think you’d be coming back or else I would have said something.” Isabella answered.  
His face dropped a bit and she realized her wording.  
“I didn’t say I was coming back? Ferb told me I have a tendency of forming ideas and thinking other people are following me when they can’t because I didn’t actually say them out loud, sorry Isabella, I was thinking we’d pick up where we left off—“  
He suddenly stopped as Isabella got close to him, and she ignored the tingly feelings on her fingertips as they grazed his hand in an attempt to grab one of the plates.  
“Thank you, really. I was actually thinking of asking to come over. The house gets lonely when it’s just me.”  
He broke out into a grin, his previous hesitation slipping away completely.  
“I know you want to spend more time here, so I figured I’d bring dinner over.” He answered.  
She had never directly told him that, but she had a hunch another conversation with Ferb had helped him figure out why she stopped coming to his backyard as much. Or maybe even with Baljeet.  
“Thanks, it’s perfect.”  
“And if you ever want to be alone or don’t want me here, just kick me out.” Even as he said it he was crossing into the living room and placing his plate on the coffee table. He took the remote and clicked on the tv, flipping through channels.  
“Oh, reruns of Space Adventure!”  
The familiar theme played as the astronauts raised their hands and rocked back and forth on the ship.  
“I always want you around, Phineas.” Isabella answered.  
After the number of hints she had given the boy, she didn’t even examine her words anymore. She could rise up on a rock, with her luscious her floating behind her, and proclaim her undying love and loyalty to him and he wouldn’t notice.  
But when she said that, he suddenly turned and beamed at her with the kind of unreserved happiness only Phineas ever really showed.  
Her heart gave a leap, all the barriers broken down again, and she realized today was one of those days when she couldn’t pretend she wasn’t completely in love with him. Having him here, sitting next to her, fireside blazing while he looked perfectly content in her home and perfectly content just being with her made her realize just how far they’d come.  
Maybe it was okay to hope, even a little. Just for right now.  
She leaned her head down on his shoulder and though she couldn’t see his face, she could feel the happy glow coming off of him.  
They had time.

**Author's Note:**

> So there you are! I love these two cinnamon rolls so much. Let me know what you think. 
> 
> Ps. I’ll always be the happy feels author, this is about as angsty as I ever expect to get here :) 
> 
> Pps. Or pss. (I always mix those up lol) if anyone has tips on how to use AO3 I would love the advice!!! I got to the tags and oh my gosh maybe I’m not that creative how do ppl come up with such clever stuff so yeah, help me get used to the posting side of things


End file.
